Harry Potter for Minister of Magic!
by racle
Summary: Now that Voldemort's dead, Harry decides to run for Minister of Magic! At first his fame gives him an advantage, but the dirty tricks of Scrimgeour's campaign are having an effect. Can Harry win the election and change the world for the better?
1. Petition Drive part 1

Author's Note: This story works off the premise that Snape didn't really kill Dumbledore in HBP, but was only pretending to. Dumbledore is still Headmaster in this story.

Chapter 1

The World of Wizardry was in a festive mood. A public holiday had been declared to commemorate the death of Lord Voldemort. Harry was still recovering in St. Mungo's, but in streets and houses everywhere, people were celebrating wildly. The size of the celebrations exceeded anything seen since 1945, after Grindelwald had fallen.

The celebrations had been triggered by the _Daily Prophet_ headline "**Potter Kills Voldemort"** that day. Harry's hospital room in St. Mungo's was flooded with get-well-quick cards, many of them from complete strangers. The Healers warned that Harry would need a few days to recover from the effects of the final battle, but they were confident that he had suffered no permanent injuries.

Three days later, Harry was discharged from St. Mungo's. Crowds gathered around the hero as he walked home with his friends. Harry and his friends declined thousands of autograph requests.

"Well, Harry, now you can finally be normal again," Ginny said. "What are you going to do with your life?"

"I really don't know," Harry had to admit. He had received offers from several Quidditch teams to play as their Seeker, including a highly coveted offer from the national team of Great Britain. Many businesses had also offered him jobs, hoping to share his massive (and to Harry, unwanted) publicity.

Luna rolled through the grate of the floo fireplace, landing gracefully on the floor at the Burrow. "Harry, look at this!" She thrust an open copy of _The Quibbler_ into his face. Harry took the magazine and looked at the page. It was a list of political poll results. He read over the figures quickly and returned the magazine to Luna.

"Harry, I know you hate publicity," Luna said, "but you could use this to your advantage. If you run in the Minister for Magic election this year, you have a great chance of winning. The publicity will fade with the years, Harry. This could be your best chance!"

"Yeah, you could do Britain some real good!" Mr. Weasley chimed in from the dining table. "We've had quite a long time without an honest Minister of Magic."

"I'm too famous as it is," Harry complained.

"You have a chance to reform an entire country. A bit of extra publicity is a small price to pay for that."

"I'll think about it," Harry said.

-----------One Week Later-------------

Harry walked resolutely into the Ministry of Magic.

"I'd like to declare my candidacy for the Minister election," he said to the receptionist.

"Of course," she replied. She pulled out a few rolls of parchment from her desk. "You'll need to fill out these forms," she said, handing him the rolls. "And you'll need to create a petition for your candidacy. You will need five hundred signatures in order to run. You have to return all the paperwork within four weeks to qualify for a run."

The celebrations were dying down; but the next day, the _Daily Prophet_ ran a front-page article reporting on Harry's run for the Minister position, although the article made clear Skeeter's opposition to the hero's candidacy. However, Harry had no trouble gaining the required five hundred signatures. He took the petition to the Order of the Phoenix that very day, then sought out all the former members of the D.A. The day after that, he posted his petition on the wall of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes at Hogsmeade. By nightfall, more than a thousand names were on his long roll of parchment.

The next morning, as Harry was turning in his paperwork to the Ministry, sinister events were occurring at Malfoy Manor.

The current Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, wrung his hands in despair. "The boy is challenging me for the Minister position," he lamented, "he has all the publicity of recent events behind him. The _Quibbler_ poll is already showing us ten points behind. What are we to do?"

"He may be popular," Lucius Malfoy said, "but I will change that. Mr. Scrimgeour, I promise you that I will use every means at my disposal to keep the boy from your position."

The next day, Harry received a letter by owl from the Ministry:

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are sorry to inform you that the petition you submitted to run for Minister for Magic does not contain enough valid signatures. Out of 1,313 signatures submitted, only 161 included an acceptable voter identification, which is required as proof of citizenship for signatories. Please resubmit a petition with 500 or more identified signatures by 4:28 p.m. on August 13 to qualify for the general election._

_Election Officials_

_Ministry of Magic_

_London, UK_

Harry and his friends went out to London again and attempted to collect more signatures. But this time, despite the publicity, the crowds did not form around Harry's petition as they had the first time. Harry didn't know why until he read the headline of the _Daily Prophet_: "**25 Potter Petition Signers Crucio'ed Across U.K.**"

Shocked, Harry continued reading down the rest of the article:

"_London – Yesterday some 25 wizards and witches were found incapacitated in their homes, suffering from Cruciatus Curses. Although none of the attacks were witnessed except by the victims themselves, suspicion has fallen upon former Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, a known supporter of the late Lord Voldemort as well as a sadist who has served sentences in Azkaban for previous incidents of torture. The 25 victims seemed completely random, ranging in age from seventeen to one hundred and fifty, and none of them names of national prominence. Upon investigation, however, it has been revealed that all 25 of the victims were among the 161 valid identified signatories of Minister for Magic candidate Harry James Potter's petition. It is believed that these wizards and witches may have been attacked as retribution for supporting the political aspirations of Lord Voldemort's staunchest opponent._

_Potter's opponent for the Minister of Magic seat, incumbent Minister Rufus Scrimgeour, has denied any connection and promised to investigate fully. "We have no solid leads at the moment, only speculation," he said, "but this torture will be investigated fully, and whoever is responsible will be punished severely, assuming of course that I am still the Minister when we apprehend this person." Scrimgeour refused to comment on the possibility that Potter's campaign committed the tortures in order to generate sympathy and create grounds on which to challenge the election should he lose to Scrimgeour. Strangely enough, Potter did not deny the idea either."_

Deep in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, Scrimgeour met the former Death Eaters a second time.

"That was a bit heavy-handed, Lucius," said Scrimgeour, "but it worked. Thank you all, I knew I could count on you."

"No problem," Bellatrix said.

"And, Bellatrix," Scrimgeour said seriously, "I have been planning out my re-election campaign. A few days before the election, I may need to have you arrested to boost our chances of victory. Is it acceptable for you to spend a few days in Azkaban? We'll make sure you get a chance to escape once I am confirmed the winner."

"That's fine," Bellatrix said. "You want me to fail to fend off the Aurors. I can do that."

"Thank you. Now, Lucius, you have control over Skeeter's newspaper. Get any damaging rumors you can published. I'll send you suggestions as I think of them."

* * *

What do you think? Please review! 


	2. Petition Drive part 2

Chapter 2

For over a week Harry failed to get any new signatures for his petition. With the new requirement that signers provide identifying information, only Dumbledore, Snape, the Weasleys, and Neville put their names on the magic parchment. Two days later, at around midnight, Neville's home was burned to the ground in a deliberate arson and Neville was found laying in the middle of the street suffering from a Cruciatus curse. The next night a fire began at the Burrow and was fortunately extinguished before it did major damage.

Three days after the fire at the Burrow, the next edition of _The Quibbler_ came out. Most of _The Quibbler_ was boilerplate, but in the back there was an editorial supporting Harry's campaign. That night the Lovegood residence burned as well, and Mr. Lovegood also suffered a Cruciatus curse.

The message to the public was clear: _Don't support Harry's campaign!_

Meanwhile, Scrimgeour was again plotting with the Death Eaters for the next part of the election.

"What we need," Scrimgeour thought aloud, "is photographs of Potter or his friends in embarrassing situations. Something, perhaps, like Potter wearing a bikini."

"The difficulty then would be creating these pictures without actually picturing Potter," Lucius said. "If we were to Imperio him, he would know after the fact."

"Polyjuice potion?" Draco suggested.

"Very smart idea, son. All we'll need is a hair from Potter and each of his friends."

"How will we get that?"

"We'll go at night. Bellatrix, you could use a broomstick and go to the Weasley house. Use Silencing charms, open the windows, cut the hair, and escape. Draco, you do the same at Longbottom's house. I will gather the rest of the ingredients for the Polyjuice. It will require a month to brew."

As the August 13 deadline approached, Harry finally settled on a brilliant maneuver. He posted his petition again, this time on the wall of The Leaky Cauldron, and next to it placed a second parchment offering the protection of the Order of the Phoenix to anyone who wished to sign the petition. Within one day he acquired the signatures and turned over the petition to the Ministry. Even though sixteen of the signers were murdered by the next morning, he had gotten almost six hundred signatures, so he still had enough to legallyqualify.

Rufus Scrimgeour purchased several full-page advertisements in the _Daily Prophet_for his campaign,trumpeting Scrimgeour's age and experience over Harry's youth and lack of knowledge about matters of state. The _Daily Prophet_ also spread a rumor that Harry was gay; he vigorously denied this, and the accusations had little effect on the campaign. The _Quibbler_ opinion polls still showed Harry Potter slightly ahead, with 45 percent support versus 38 percent for Scrimgeour.

However, a week later, Lucius was standing over a cauldron of Polyjuice potion. He poured some into two vials, one for Rodolphus and one for Bellatrix. In Rodolphus's vial he placed a length of hair that Bellatrix had earlier cut from Ron's head; Bellatrix's potion used a hair from Ginny. Lucius wasn't as good as Snape in potion making, but the potion worked. Rodolphus gagged as he swallowed the foul-tasting potion.

"Now what?" he asked, looking at his new, younger-looking body.

"Make out so that we can get some photographs," Lucius said. "Make it realistic, just the same as if you hadn't taken the potion. We'll send the pictures to Rita Skeeter. It should be enough to get some nasty rumors swirling around Potter's camp."

Draco held up a camera. Rodolphus embraced Bellatrix and kissed her deeply, closing his eyes and imagining his own wife in front of him. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, and she opened to allow him entry. As he thrust his tongue into her mouth Draco started to snap a series of photographs, spaced a few seconds apart. Rodolphus pulled off Bellatrix's robe and started to unbutton her shirt, and she did the same to him while Draco kept photographing. In one minute he had fifteen photographs.

"Okay, that's enough for our purposes," Lucius said loudly. The Death Eater couple broke apart. "Develop the photographs and send them on their way."

Following the instructions Draco had forced Colin Creevey to write for him, the Death Eater developed the film from the camera. The result was breathtaking: fifteen splendid color photographs showing what seemed to be Ron and Ginny Weasley, lips locked together in a passionate embrace. They picked out a few of the best ones and delivered them to the _Daily Prophet_'s office.

Harry and his friends didn't know this. The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Ginny saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both unconscious, slumped on the dining table over an unfolded copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

"Mum! Dad! What's happened? Wake up, please!" Ron, Harry, and Ginny rushed to the table: a severe mistake. When they reached the table, they saw the large front-page photograph of "Ron" and "Ginny" kissing. Ron and Ginny both promptly fainted, which allowed Harry, standing behind them, to get a glance at the paper. When he recognized the figures in the picture, his eyeballs rolled back in their sockets and he, too, collapsed unconscious.

About ten minutes later, Hermione, Luna, and Neville flooed into the Burrow, just as they had arranged the previous day. Hermione and Neville rushed to see what had happened to their friends, but the shock of the picture was so great that they only ended up joining their friends on the floor.

It was as if the _Daily Prophet_ had a stunning spell on it: everyone who saw it fainted immediately. With this in mind, Luna (now the only person standing in the Burrow) warily approached the area, checking for any hidden traps. When she didn't see any, she glanced at the paper. It caught her attention, but she was one of the few who weren't knocked out by the shock.


	3. Campaign Strategy

Chapter 3

"Alright, so what's the plan now?" Harry asked, after everyone had been permanently restored to consciousness.

"Eat breakfast," Ron said, his stomach growling loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Then figure out a response to Skeeter's photograph," Hermione finished.

A badly shaken Mrs. Weasley cooked a large breakfast for them, and they ate quickly, anxious to get down to business.

The fireplace suddenly burst into a green flame and Dumbledore fell through, tumbling over his head in an unintentional somersault to end up unceremoniously spread-eagled on his back. Everyone turned to the source of the sound as Dumbledore slowly pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off. In his hand was a copy of the knockout _Daily Prophet_.

"I trust you have already seen today's newspaper?" Dumbledore asked, a slight twinkle somehow still in his eyes despite the morning's events.

Everyone else nodded grimly.

"Well, I have been calling members of the Order. It would seem that you are not the only ones to have been knocked unconscious by the paper."

"What happened?" Harry asked, horrified.

"I have received reports that Kingsley, Fred, George, Percy, and Minerva all fainted from disbelief when they first saw the pictures. Fortunately, kind passersby and colleagues revived them."

"How was that picture made?" Ginny asked, still in shock.

"Assuming that the two of you never did what the picture shows you doing," Dumbledore said, "it may be that some of Scrimgeour's people are disguising themselves as you in order to ruin your reputations—and by association, Harry's. What we require is a way to publicize this fact. It is clear that Skeeter cannot be trusted in this regard."

"We could use my father's printing press," Luna suggested. "Print out a lot of flyers, or maybe put it into the next _Quibbler_. It'll be out in three days."

Meanwhile…

"The picture was very effective," Scrimgeour said, "A few more of those and my victory is assured."

"What's our next step, then? I imagined, perhaps, an actual picture of Potter committing a crime, or doing something otherwise embarrassing," Lucius said.

"That will work fine," Scrimgeour said. "Perhaps…Bellatrix and Rodolphus might be willing to lend their talent as lovers for a second picture. Perhaps a picture of Potter snogging Dumbledore, would provide irrefutable proof of his homosexuality."

"I doubt that can do much more damage," Rodolphus said, "after all, there is little homophobia in wizarding Britain. I believe, though, that as you are a vampire, you will have a distinct appeal to non-human voters. Our strategy should focus on maximizing the turnout of non-human beings, while suppressing the votes of Potter's supporters."

"That is a good strategy," Scrimgeour agreed. "Most of the vampires have already pledged us their support, as have the werewolves. The Goblins, unfortunately, have been requesting monetary compensation for their votes."

"I can arrange the compensation," Lucius said.

"There is one other suggestion I would make," Bellatrix said, "Britain currently has a large excess population of Dementors. Despite their appearance, they are in fact intelligent. The Dark Lord was able to bargain and negotiate with them in a civil manner, and they responded well to rational persuasion. I believe we have a good legal case to classify Dementors as beings, eligible for citizenship. Their presence at ballots would be a great deterrent to human voters, most of which lean towards Potter."

"Yes, we might also see if it is possible to do the same with spirits," Lucius continued, "seeing as most spirits are merely dead humans."

"Unfortunately, many of those spirits were created by the Dark Lord in the two wars," Scrimgeour said. "I believe spirits would be more likely to sympathize with Potter if granted the vote. It would not be wise to do that. However, the Dementor suggestion is excellent. I will contact my legal staff and explore the possibilities of enfranchising Dementors. Lucius, you may contact the Goblins."

Scrimgeour returned by floo to his office. Walking along a long hallway in the Ministry, he stopped at a large room that was divided into several cubicles and entered.

A young man with large, gold-rimmed glasses and yellow hair looked up from his desk.

"Sir?"

"Jack, I have a legal question for you. Does a Dementor qualify as a being?"

"I-I don't know, Minister. We don't really know how smart a Dementor is. It would have to be clever enough to understand the laws of human society. They may be rational creatures, but what we need is a measure of intelligence. If we could communicate with them, perhaps…"

"What about ghosts and spirits?"

"They're just as human as we are, Minister. The difference is that they're dead."

"That's fine. Prepare a legal case opposing the granting of citizenship to spirits. I think we may soon need to argue it."

Meanwhile…

"If Scrimgeour's going to use fabricated photographs of us, we could do the same to him," Hermione said. "I think a picture of Scrimgeour and Fudge snogging would work very well."

"Or Scrimgeour snogging a pig," Ron suggested.

"Ask yourselves this," Dumbledore interrupted, wheezing at the top of his voice, "do you want to sink to Scrimgeour's level? Are you truly willing to use his dishonorable tactics?"

"How else would we win?" Harry responded.

"Defend yourself," Dumbledore said. "Tell everyone that Scrimgeour's people are disguising themselves as you. Should they release any more photographs, people will know not to take them at face value."

"Alright. What else?"

"We might make some advertisements of our own," Ginny said. "Look at this!" She held up the copy of the _Daily Prophet_, opened to the second page. The entire second and third pages were taken up by one of Scrimgeour's massive advertisements. On the second page, there was a massive mug shot of Scrimgeour, with words at the bottom: _SCRIMGEOUR FOR MINISTER OF MAGIC. _On the facing page, the advertisement read:

"_Rufus Scrimgeour is an excellent Minister of Magic who deserves another term. Scrimgeour has wide experience as an Auror, an administrator (former head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement), and of course as the Minister position. Scrimgeour's accomplishments as Minister make him the clear choice._

_Under Scrimgeour's rule:_

_--Unemployment rates have decreased from 3 percent to virtually nil._

_--The greatest Dark Lord in history is now history himself._

_--More than 50 Death Eaters have been arrested and convicted._

_--The Ministry of Magic runs a balanced budget._

_--Hundreds of Aurors have been trained, so Britain is in a strong position against other states._

_--Racial discrimination against non-purebloods has been eliminated; half-bloods now hold many important positions in the Ministry._

_--No official has dared to accept a bribe during Scrimgeour's tenure._

_In addition, Scrimgeour should be re-elected because of the lack of worthy opponents. Scrimgeour's only challenger this year is only 18 years old and has no experience in governing or even a formal occupation. Perhaps someday Harry Potter will be better qualified for the Minister of Magic office. However, Potter's life lies ahead of him. He will have his chance in the future, but this year, _

_**Vote Rufus Scrimgeour for Minister of Magic!**_

Then, in very fine print at the bottom was another line of text:

_(Paid for by Lucius Malfoy)_

_

* * *

_Review please! Any feedback? (We don't really know how politics works in the Harry Potter universe. I kind of based the stuff on what you'd see in a Muggle political campaign, but changed to reflect the lack of technology.) 


	4. Conflicting Quotes

Chapter 4

----August 22, 1998----

An owl flew to the Burrow, pecking repeatedly on the glass of Ginny's window. She opened the window and the owl dropped a single letter into her hands. When she opened the envelope she found a Hogwarts letter and a Head Girl badge.

_Dear Ms. Weasley,_

_Congratulations! You have been chosen as Head Girl for Hogwarts. For this year, you will need the following supplies:_

_--3 sets of work robes_

_--1 Wand (not inherited from older siblings)_

_--Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_

_--Moste Potente Potions_

_--Quill pens_

_--Parchment_

_Due to unique circumstances this year, this is an incomplete list. You will be notified if more supplies are required._

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Ginny ventured to Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies for her final year at Hogwarts. As she had feared, the _Daily Prophet_ photograph from the previous day was the topic of almost every conversation. As she walked from store to store, almost everyone within ten feet of her dropped whatever they were doing, stared disapprovingly at her, pointed, and whispered among themselves. The few who didn't look up had their noses buried in a copy of _The Quibbler_, which she noticed was quite common: at least one in every ten people were reading the magazine. She did her best to ignorethe staresand quickly bought the necessary materials.

As she proceeded down Diagon Alley, she noticed a stretch where there seemed to be very few people. Up ahead, in the distance, was a large crowd gathered around the entrance to Gringotts. She approached, and started hearing a voice that became gradually louder: "…We have had too many corrupt administrations," someone was saying, their voice obviously amplified with a Sonorus charm. "It may be very well indeed that Harry is so young, as Mr. Scrimgeour's ubiquitous advertisements have pointed out. Harry, unlike the older politicians of our time, has not yet been corrupted by wealth or fame. Now Scrimgeour, on the other hand…"

Ginny was now close enough to recognize the speaker, who was standing on a magically conjured raised platform above the entrance of Gringotts. It was Remus Lupin!

She stayed at the back of the crowd, listening to the werewolf.

"…has too much at stake in the current system already," he continued, "so he will be disinclined to change, no matter what he says.

"Scrimgeour has managed to take credit for the victory in the recent war, but he merely happened to be Minister just as Harry Potter's quest began. Any Minister of Magic would have done the same, indeed perhaps even a better job. In fact, this is the very Minister who pardoned Voldemort's second in command after only two months in Azkaban! Lucius Malfoy was pardoned, not because he claimed to act under duress—and he could not repeat the claim when subjected to Veritaserum—but rather, because he is the richest wizard in Britain. What we need is a Minister who cannot be bought with bribery. With your votes, Harry Potter can be that Minister—"

"_Avada kedavra!_" a shout interrupted Lupin in midsentence. Lupin dived off the platform just as a green bolt of light whizzed up from the ground at an angle, narrowly missing Lupin's back as he fell from the platform and landed on an unsuspecting customer who was just leaving Gringotts. The frightened crowd scattered, running away in all directions. The customer scrambled out from Lupin and ran for his life, not bothering to help the werewolf up.

"Now you can see the lengths Scrimgeour will go to keep power!" Lupin shouted quickly at the dispersing crowd as he pulled out his wand. "We deserve a better Minister than that!" The would-be assassin had escaped in the confusion. Looking around warily and seeing no Death Eaters, Lupin stood up and dusted off his tattered robes, then ended the Sonorus spell, walking over to Ginny.

"That was a great speech!" Ginny complimented him.

"Thank you. Actually, Dumbledore wrote it," Lupin admitted. "He had me deliver it because it would be inappropriate for the Hogwarts Headmaster to publicly support a candidate."

* * *

Luna came by the Burrow again, this time to give Harry and Hermione copies of that month's _Quibbler_ issue. Harry opened the magazine to the first page and instantly saw this article: 

_Forged Incest Photograph Published in Daily Prophet!_

_By Mark Lovegood_

_On August 21, 1998, the _Daily Prophet_ printed a photograph apparently intended to defame Harry Potter's Ministerial campaign. The photograph showed Potter's girlfriend, Ginevra Weasley, kissing her elder brother Ronald. The photograph, we now know, was forged by the rival campaign of Rufus Scrimgeour. "I did not kiss my sister!" Ronald Weasley insisted, when inquired about the photograph in question. "I don't know who it is in the picture but it's not me!"_

_The recently resurrected Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore, has demonstrated that Polyjuice potion, facial transfigurations, or Metamorphagi could all have been used to create a falsified photograph like the one in the _Daily Prophet

_We administered Veritaserum to Mr. Weasley, with his consent, in order to prove that he was telling the truth. In addition, Dumbledore, a skilled Legilimens (capable of reading minds), confirmed that Weasley was not lying when he denied the photograph._

_Even though the evidence indicates that the photograph is false, it appears to be negatively affecting Potter's campaign. In a poll of 100 eligible voters, 38 percent said they would vote for Potter, down from 43 percent two weeks ago. 37 percent said they would vote for Scrimgeour; the rest were undecided. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.7 percent, so the race for Minister is statistically tied._

Hermione scanned only the first paragraph, then quickly held up that day's _Daily Prophet_, seemingly comparing them. Harry, too, noticed the contrast.

"Wait a minute…" Hermione looked from the article on the left side of the _Daily Prophet_'s front page, to the article on Page 1 of _The Quibbler_, then back and forth between the articles.

"What's this?" Ron took the _Daily Prophet_, looking at the article on the left side. His mouth dropped open in shock and his eyes became even wider than Luna's. Then, as he read, his face twisted into a terribly enraged expression.

"I _will_ kill Skeeter," Ron said determinedly.

"What did she do this time?" Harry asked, looking up.

"She took 'I did NOT kiss my sister' and edited out the word 'not'! She quoted me the opposite of what I said!" Harry could almost imagine the thick smoke pouring from his friend's ears. Harry would have laughed if he wasn't Ron's best friend. Instead, though, he took the _Daily Prophet_, which, sure enough, included the statement:

"_I did...kiss my sister!" –Ron Weasley_

* * *

Please read, review, if you have any suggestions offer them! 


	5. Door to Door

Chapter 5

Remus J. Lupin returned to 12 Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore wasn't in; Lupin realized that the leader of the Order must already have gone to Hogwarts. He walked over to the fireplace and tossed in some floo powder.

"Albus, I didn't get through the entire speech," Lupin reported, "Someone tried to use the killing curse on me. I ducked it, but it scared off the crowd. Whoever it was escaped in the confusion."

Dumbledore nodded sagely. "I see," he said, "Well, better luck tomorrow. If Scrimgeour's assassins are active in London, perhaps you should speak at another town instead. I suggest you visit Wizard Southampton."

Lupin nodded and pulled his head from the fire. The Order of the Phoenix had found its new purpose: from this time on, it was Harry Potter's official campaign organization. Dumbledore wrote several more speeches and gave them out to Order members.

That day, meanwhile, the whole Order was engaged. Throughout the day of August 23, Order members knocked on doors, handing out leaflets to refute the mis-quotations of the _Daily Prophet_.

Nymphadora Tonks proceeded up to yet another house in the small town of Birmingham. She knocked on the door and was answered by an elderly, white-haired witch with blue eyes and a large, pointed nose. "Hello, my name is Nymphadora Tonks. I'm doing a survey in this town. First, may…"

"…I ask, did you see the _Daily Prophet_ from the past two days?" Alastor Moody asked politely to a middle-aged, tall, fat wizard in the wizard section of Liverpool.

"Yes, of course I did," replied a blonde, brown-eyed wizard of about twenty-five years old, when asked the same question by Minerva McGonagall in central London. "I see," Minerva said evenly, "so what do you think of the scandalous photograph that was on the front page two days ago?"

"Absolutely disgusting," was the reply a black-haired wizard gave to Bill Weasley in Manchester. The wizard looked at Bill carefully.

"Perhaps you do not know, then," Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke to a tall blonde witch somewhere in Edinburgh, "that the photograph was forged. I happen to know the people involved in the photograph and they did no such thing. We confirmed that with Veritaserum."

"Do you work for the Potter campaign?"

"Yes, actually I do," Tonks replied. "The important information we're trying to give out is that, first of all, Ron Weasley was deliberately misquoted in yesterday's Prophet. In the place of the ellipsis there, he actually said the word, 'not'. This newspaper has had a grudge against us for a long time, so be skeptical of anything they say about Potter or his friends."

"Scrimgeour's people could have taken Polyjuice Potion to make that photograph…" Moody explained,

"…or they could have used very advanced transfiguration methods…" Bill said,

"…or Metamorphagi," Minerva said,

"…since the Daily Prophet refuses to publish our opinions, we've been forced to resort to door-to-door campaigning to correct the misinformation Skeeter's put out."

Kingsley Shacklebolt moved on to the next house; a slightly larger house, but quite similar in style to the last one. He again knocked on the door.

Meanwhile, several houses behind him, a black-cloaked figure, with the cloak billowing, swept up to one of the houses Kingsley had already visited.

The owner of that house, a stout, white-haired, bespectacled man who looked to be in his forties, opened the door and shrank back in fear. Rodolphus Lestrange stayed outside the door, safe behind his black mask, allowing the man to back away.

"I won't hurt you," Rodolphus said imperatively, "I just want you to know some things. Just now, I believe, you were visited by a Potter supporter?"

The white-haired man nodded mutely.

"Well, I work for Scrimgeour. The photograph from the _Daily Prophet_ is genuine. In fact, I was one of the people who made the photographs. This campaign could be a little violent, and you should know that there is only one man who can protect us from these cloaked men…"

Meanwhile, other Death Eaters were surreptitiously trailing the other Order members.

"…That man is Rufus Scrimgeour!" Bellatrix shouted to the blonde, brown-eyed wizard who had just been interviewed by Professor McGonagall in London. "Think about your vote carefully, young man—it may be the difference between life and death, for you!"

In Manchester, an eight-foot-tall black cloaked figure glided up to the raven-haired young wizard whom Bill had recently spoken to. The wizard backed instinctively away from the Dementor at his door, but the Dementor held out one of its gray, scabbly hands, in which were held a brochure. On the brochure was printed much the same speech that other Death Eaters were giving live. The black haired wizard hesitantly took the brochure. The Dementor nodded, satisfied, and left.

"I remind you again," Draco said to a tall, fat wizard in the wizarding section of Liverpool, "the Aurors will be watching the polls, so we will know who voted for whom. If you vote the right way, Scrimgeour has the resources to protect you."

Draco left, his cloak billowing behind him, and the relieved wizard shut his door. Draco quickly turned and pretended to walk the other way as Alastor Moody, four houses away, looked around. Moody saw only a cloaked figure, but didn't see the fact that its face was masked. He strolled up to the next house and rang the doorbell, preparing to repeat his spiel. Draco Malfoy quickly ran up to another of the houses that Moody had visited not fifteen minutes ago and rang that doorbell.

-----September 5, 1998----

The battle lines had been drawn. The Order of the Phoenix endorsed Harry Potter for the Minister of Magic position, while all the businesses controlled by the Malfoys endorsed Rufus Scrimgeour. Order members continued going door to door, passing out leaflets, booklets, and _Quibbler_ magazines printed with Mr. Lovegood's printing press. The Death Eaters and Dementors also went door to door, delivering ad posters for Scrimgeour and warnings on the mortal perils of supporting the other side. The fevered campaigning made for a tight political race, and many voters, answering the door to Order members in the morning and Death Eaters in the afternoon, and receiving campaign literature from both sides, remained undecided.

On this day, the September issue of _The Quibbler_ hit the stands.

Mark Lovegood's most recent Floo-powder poll of 100 households showed Potter and Scrimgeour tied at 31 percent each, with 38 percent of the voters undecided.

By contrast, the internal floo polling of the Order of the Phoenix showed 72 percent of the voters supporting Potter. Lovegood wondered if it had something to do with the fact that poll respondents knew who the interviewing Order members were. The Scrimgeour campaign had conducted its own poll the previous week and claimed that 97 percent of the respondents supported Scrimgeour. For two weeks now the two campaigns had been releasing conflicting statistics, and while Lovegood (and the Order members) trusted his own statistics, most of Wizarding Britain didn't know what to believe.

As it all went on, the Hogwarts Express was boarding. Luna sat alone in a compartment, as Ginny had to go up to the Head compartment this time.

The ride went uneventfully.

-----September 7, 1998-----

After eating lunch quickly, Luna hurried back to Ravenclaw Tower and went straight up to her dorm and opened her trunk. From the bottom of the trunk, she took out several wide rolls of parchment. These were large posters the Order had created for Harry Potter's campaign. Since all the seventh-years were able to vote, Dumbledore had approved some campaigning in school, although he himself was not permitted to take part.

But as she had left the Great Hall, three figures rose from the Slytherin table and followed her.

Stepping down the stairs into the Ravenclaw common room, Luna took one poster and unrolled it, then took her wand and placed a sticking charm on the wall opposite the couch, firmly pressing the poster to the wall. With the rest, she walked outside, intending to put the posters on the walls near the Ravenclaw Tower entrance.

She took one poster in her hand, leaning the others against the wall. She put a Sticking Charm as high as she could reach on the stone wall, then stuck on another poster, jumping to push the top of the poster flat against the wall.

When she turned, the four rolled-up signs she had leaned on the wall were gone.

"Looking for these?" a haughty voice echoed off the walls behind her. She turned again to see a rather plump Slytherin girl—a prefect—holding up the four campaign posters in one hand, her wand in the other. Beside her, there were two other Slytherins, both boys, and they had their wands pointed at her.

"Take down the poster!" one of the boys warned.

"Are we really going to…?" one boy whispered nervously.

"Yes!" the girl whispered back fiercely. "Malfoy'll kill us if we don't!"

The boy pointed his wand again, more resolutely.

"_Avada kedavra!_"

* * *

Author's Note: I've gotten a review saying that people are going to over-dramatic lengths to win the campaign. I don't know if political violence is over-dramatic, but it is certainly not uncommon. I know those of us in Muggle Britain and America (and many other countries)are used to peaceful, orderly elections, but this isn't the norm in some countries. For example, some countries in Africa often have fradulent elections and people were, and still are, outright murdered for their votes or political expressions. 


	6. Two Brilliant Stratagems

Chapter 6

"_Avada kedavra!_"

Luna threw herself to the ground, passing narrowly under the green bolt of light, which flew just centimeters over her legs and hit the wall, shattering one of the stone blocks in the wall. "_Expelliarmus!_" shouted the other Slytherin boy. Luna's wand flew out of her hand as she reached for it, but she quickly jumped up.

"_Accio wand!_" she shouted, causing the flying wand to reverse course and return to her hand. She looked around; there were no teachers to intervene.

"_Sectumsempra!_" yelled the Slytherin prefect, slashing her wand at Luna.

Wordlessly, Luna used _Protego _to cast a bluish shield, reflecting the curse. The rebounding Sectumsempra ripped into its caster's chest, leaving a long gash from the Slytherin's right shoulder to her waist, along with a second cut diagonally across her face. She fell, her expression one of shock, as blood began to flow out of the ends of the gashes. Her two companions looked, horrified, at the fallen prefect, then turned with a renewed rage on Luna.

"_Sectumsempra!" "Petrificus totalus!"_ each of them shouted a spell at the same time. Luna put up another shield, blocking the body-bind and the sword slash curse. The sword-slash curse bounced from her shield again, but this time the Slytherin boys both raised their own shields, sending the curse bouncing right back. Luna somersaulted aside as the Sectumsempra passed by and struck the stone wall, leaving behind two deep sword cuts in the stone.

"Slow her down!" one of the Slytherins whispered to the other. "You go first, I'll get her when she ducks!"

"_Stupefy!_" the other boy shouted. As they predicted, Luna dodged, and the red beam dissipated against the stone wall.

"Stop that!" A deep voice suddenly rang out from behind the Slytherins. The three fighting students looked up, startled. The voice belonged to the Minister of Magic himself, who had just emerged from a secret passage in the wall. Beside him was Draco Malfoy, the contractor of the attempted assassination.

"What's happened here?" Draco asked (though he knew the answer), pointing to the dying Slytherin girl. He pulled out his wand and cast a quick healing spell to stop the bleeding. As he said to the two boys, in an annoyed tone, "Get her to the Hospital Wing," he was surreptitiously raising the angle of his wand, to point further down the corridor towards Luna. The moment he finished the words "Hospital Wing", his next word was a spell: "_Crucio!_"

Draco's stratagem worked. The spell caught Luna off-guard, making her drop her wand and double over in pain. Scrimgeour pulled out his own wand. _"Avada kedavra." _As the green bolt impacted Luna's stomach, her body instantly stopped writhing, as her pain was over.

Now Scrimgeour quickly strode over to the dead girl, picked up her wand, and quietly performed a special incantation. Replacing the wand where it had dropped, he then did the same to the injured Slytherin's wand. Meanwhile, Draco turned around, pointing his wand at the two younger boys. "They will surely interrogate you two," he said. "Whatever they ask you, just say you don't remember what happened. Come this way," Draco pulled them down the hall and around a corner, out of sight of the casualties. Once they were around the corner, Draco leveled his wand again. "_Obliviate!_" The two boys had now forgotten Draco's presence. Before they could notice him again, he slipped into a secret passage, leaving the two Slytherins to innocently stumble upon their injured prefect.

"Malcolm, how did we get here?" one of them asked the other.

"I...I don't know!" Malcolm replied. "We were just eating lunch, weren't we?"

"Let's go back down to the Great Hall."

The two boys turned the corner, going for the nearest stairway they knew about.

"Oh my God who's that?"

"Are you all right?"

"Come on, we've got to get her to the Hospital Wing!"

"Levitate her!"

"Okay."

Taking no notice of the dead Ravenclaw in the corner, the two Slytherin students rushed their prefect to the Hospital Wing.

------September 8, 1998-------

Malcolm Baddock sat nervously in a chair in the Headmaster's office, with two Ministry Aurors flanking him.

"Now, Mr. Baddock," Dumbledore began, "As you know, two students were recently attacked near Ravenclaw Tower; one killed, the other seriously injured. As you discovered the wounded student and brought her to Madam Pomfrey, you must have been at the scene. Therefore, would you please shed some light on the incident?"

"I-I don't know what happened, sir," Malcolm answered honestly. The memory charm had indeed worked. "One moment I was with Graham at the Slytherin table. The next moment we were on the fourth floor around the corner from Ravenclaw Tower, with no idea how we got there. We turned the corner on our way back to the Great Hall and saw Elizabeth on the floor in a pool of blood. We rushed her to the Hospital Wing immediately."

"In that case, you never came into contact with her attacker?" Dumbledore clarified.

"We never saw him, sir."

As far as Malcolm was concerned, that was the truth, and Dumbledore, staring into his eyes with the piercing gaze of Legilimency, easily confirmed this.

"You say that you do not know how you arrived at the scene of the crime?" Dumbledore asked one last time, for confirmation.

"Yes."

"Very well. Mr. Baddock, it is clear that your memory has been erased. Most likely by the same person who attacked the other students. Reversal of Memory Charms is always uncertain, but it is our best chance at this time. You will report to the Hospital Wing with your friend at seven o'clock tonight. For now you are dismissed."

* * *

The wizarding community of Britain was only mildly surprised when news of the Hogwarts attack broke. The violence itself was quite expected; Luna Lovegood was well known for her role in fighting Voldemort, and now as the daughter of a pro-Potter magazine editor, both roles that had made her some powerful enemies. However, few people had expected the violence to occur at Hogwarts, one of the safest places in the world since Voldemort's death.

The Ministry's investigation pointed hard at Bellatrix Lestrange, the most devoted of the Death Eaters. A team of six Aurors hand-picked by Minister Scrimgeour discovered Lestrange's safe house and arrested her after an hourlong duel. Lestrange's wand was traced to the spells that had been used against the two Hogwarts students, and she was happy to confess to the attacks before the Wizengamot. The net effect of this episode was to improve Scrimgeour's standing in the polls. Under him, the Ministry had brought a wanted Death Eater to justice and, moreover, had properly handled a case involving the murder of a political challenger's close friend.

Dumbledore knew better. Investigating for himself, he noticed that Luna's and Elizabeth's wands had been tampered with, and he knew that Malcolm Baddock and Graham Pritchard had been forced to attempt the assassination, then Obliviated when they had failed. Lestrange, he suspected (correctly), was in cahoots with the Scrimgeour campaign, taking the blame and the Azkaban sentence to get Scrimgeour reelected in exchange for who knew what. Whatever she was getting in exchange, it couldn't be good...

Mark Lovegood, now all alone in the world, was distraught for only a few days. His mood, however, brightened up considerably the day after his daughter's funeral; he began to speak of her as if she were still alive, but merely confined to their home. The Order members assumed that he was insane, but still accepted him, and he continued to provide the most reliable statistics available to the Potter campaign. He wrote in the _Quibbler_, with quite sound analysis, that "_this election is shaping up to be a contest between rich and poor, dark and light, perpetrators and victims..._"

-------October 1, 1998------

From the October edition of _The Quibbler_:

_POLL RESULTS FOR WEEK OF SEPT. 23-30_

_Poll taken of 200 wizarding households in Britain by floo, owl post, and face-to-face from 9/26-9/29; sample includes 582 eligible voters in a representative cross-section of Britain magical population. Margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points._

_This is the first poll that will include Dementors, who as of Sept. 18are now eligible to vote under Ministry Decree #2672, paragraph 1b._

_Question 1. What type of being are you?_

_Percentage of respondents that answered:_

_Human, non-Werewolf - 58.4_

_Dementor - 25.7_

_Goblin - 7.0_

_Vampire - 2.3_

_Werewolf - 1.8_

_Other / Mixed ancestry - 4.8_

_Question 2. What is your blood purity?_

_Pureblood - 31.0_

_Half-blood - 45.8_

_Muggle-born - 19.4_

_Half-breed - 4.8_

_Question 3. What is your income level?_

_Less than 500 Galleons annually - 4.0_

_500 to 700 Galleons - 19.5_

_700 to 1000 Galleons - 20.4_

_1000 to 1500 Galleons - 16.8_

_1500 to 3000 Galleons - 9.9_

_Over 3000 Galleons - 0.7_

_Unemployed / No income - 28.7_

_Question 4. Are you now or were you ever a supporter of the Dark Lord?_

_Yes, willingly - 30.7_

_Yes, under blackmail - 6.4_

_No - 62.9_

_Question 5. If the election were held today, who would you vote for Minister?_

_Rufus Scrimgeour - 43.1_

_Harry Potter - 30.2_

_Undecided / Don't know - 26.7_


End file.
